


Young Justice: The Mimic Contingency

by KaiRenshiro



Category: DC Elseworlds, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29060259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaiRenshiro/pseuds/KaiRenshiro
Summary: Desmond Snyder is just an ordinary high school student, until he is caught in the crossfire of a supervillain assault and awakens his Meta-Gene.Left with near-omnipotent powers and nowhere to go, Desmond is taken in by the Justice League, where he will learn to control his powers and become a hero in his own right - the newest addition to the Young Justice 'Team;.Inspired by his new-found friends, Desmond commits himself to becoming a force for good. But when the villainous Vandal Savage and the Light learn of his existence, all that will change...
Relationships: Artemis Crock/Wally West, Dick Grayson/Zatanna Zatara, Kon-El | Conner Kent/M'gann M'orzz
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue - The Death of Hope

**Author's Note:**

> A revisitation of a work that I published on Wattpad a few years back. Hope you all enjoy it.

METROPOLIS - NOVEMBER 12th (10:09 PM)

Superman screamed out in pain as the white-clad boy threw him through a skyscraper, his vision blurring into swirls of neon, mortar and blood as he spun out of control. After flying through more than three buildings, he managed to steady himself midair, but only for a brief second. The Man of Steel had barely processed where he was before a green beam howled through the air, searing his back before the same fist beat him rapidly through the Metropolis CBD, the shockwaves of the blows tearing cars into crude piles of metal.

Superman had been hit so hard and so fast, he had forgotten where he was again. He desperately strained his eyes, trying to make sense of the blurs passing them. But whenever he regained his focus, the boy's onslaught just became more and more vicious.

And with a final downward kick, he sent Superman hurtling back to Earth, the force of the kick shattering every window in the block.

When Superman hit the ground, a poorly constructed path in an alleyway, his beaten body bounced along the concrete gracelessly, like a deflated basketball. As he collided violently with a wall at the alley's end, he let out a loud cry, a bitter, metallic taste filling his mouth.

He looked up to see the boy descending from above him, like an angel about to deliver divine wrath, and for one of the first times in his life, Superman found himself panting with fear.

His panting only became worse as the boy got closer. His chest felt like a weight, a crushing feeling of despair that became worse with every breath he took. By the time the boy got closer to him, his breathing had been replaced by a heavy bout of coughing and wheezing.

Which made him all the easier to fight.

The boy's boots finally met the ground, his armour gleaming platinum white in the obscured moonlight. Superman groaned with effort, attempting to get back on his feet. But as soon as he stood up, the boy's eyes blazed with a red fire, which turned into primal beams of energy that forced Superman back to the ground in a broken, smouldering heap.

"So..." he spat at his attacker. "You copied my powers too?"

His only reply was a small smirk, the sort of snide grin a shark makes before it devours you whole.

"Well I've been a good boy of late..." the youth chuckled. He waited another second before his hand snapped out and grabbed Superman by the collar.

"...I'd like to think of it as my reward."

He held the hero high above the ground, palm-striking him straight in the centre of the 'S' symbol of his suit, watching as the Man of Steel tore through the burgundy wall behind him like it was wet paper.

He went to strike him again, but Superman caught his foot and pulled him down, viciously upper-cutting the boy's jaw. It sent the boy flying through a rusted fire escape with a booming thunderclap and breaking several building foundations in the process.

Normally, Superman wouldn't take this long to defeat someone with such power, except for the fact that this boy did not just have ONE power. The fact that he had used Wonder Woman's strength, Green Lantern's beams and his heat vision confirmed his fears; that the boy had finally gained the powers of the Justice League! It wasn't just fighting one person, it was like fighting the whole League! All their powers condensed into one person!

"You won't be rewarded, Desmond!" Superman yelled after him. "You'll be punished!"

With a roar of rage, he leapt up over the building, landing mere feet away from Desmond, who was slowly crawling out of the mangled remains of the fire escape.

"You will pay for what you did to the League!!"

Desmond laughed, wiping his bloody nose along the back of his armoured hand.

"And who will MAKE me pay? You?"

Superman lunged at Desmond in the blink of an eye, but Desmond tore a railing from the brick, sending a shower of brick dust into Superman's eyes and a contorted metal ladder into his chest, smacking him into a parked taxi below him.

"The Young Justice?"

The impact left a large dent in the sidewalk and an even larger one in the taxi, which beeped loudly before the alarm died out.

"Don't make me laugh, Clark..."

Superman's eyes fired with rage as he got to his feet and wiped the brick dust from his face. But as he looked at his dirtied hand, his eyes went wide with horror. Whatever it was on his hand, it wasn't brick dust...

It was green!

Suddenly, his body felt like he had just been set on fire as if someone had plunged millions of burning daggers into his cells and started twisting them around. He fell to his knees almost instantly, his vision clouding she coughed up blood all over the ground.

"Not yet..!" he screamed at himself. "I can still fight..!"

But Desmond, in all his 'mercy', leapt down from the wall and slammed his knee into Superman's chest, making the latter cough up even more blood as he groaned in pain, desperate for relief from his pain.

He looked up at Desmond again, only for the boy's fist to strike him across the jaw and nose, sending small shrapnels of armour and blood all over the ruined taxi.

"Sleight of hand," Desmond told him. "I had to get the Kryptonite on you somehow, I just had to wait until you were distracted by the brick dust and your anger clouded your judgement!"

He beat his knee into Superman's face again, letting him drop to the ground with a noise somewhere between a wheezing and a groan.

"How pathetic," Desmond remarked, almost sounding disappointed. "The Man of Steel! Champion of the planet and protector of man! The poster boy for the Justice League! About to die in a gutter of his own blood..."

Superman mumbled something, but Desmond's foot struck him in the ribs, forcing him to roll onto his back. As the hero laid there, his body too heavy to even draw breath, he looked up to the sky and saw the clouds parting and the moon shining brighter than before.

"Diana..." he whispered weakly. "Barry...Dinah..."

Tears began to form on the corner of his eyes.

"Bruce..."

He could hear Desmond take a step back, the metallic hissing of a blade being drawn coming from his back. Desmond's staff, shifting itself into the blade that would end his life...

"Why?" Superman asked him weakly. "We helped strengthen you..."

"And I'm grateful for it." Desmond replied.

"We HELPED you!! Treated you like FAMILY!!!"

At the sound of the last word, the sound of 'family', Desmond slammed his foot onto Superman's chest, grinding it emphatically over his chest plate.

"Is that you treat family?" he asked coldly. "The way you treated me?!"

Superman was silent.

"You wanna know something? All my life, I had trouble fitting in...I had a wealthy ward, a good education and so promise for my future career!"

He put more weight on his foot, making Superman groan.

"But I never BELONGED! That was all I wanted! Someone to look at me at the end of the day! Someone would always be there! Someone to make me feel like I was THERE!"

For a moment, he lowered his cane sword, looking Superman in the eye for the first time since their fight.

"Did you?" he asked quietly. "Did ANY of you even want me? The League? Your precious sidekicks? Did anyone actually feel happy that I was there?"

Superman was beginning to tear up too. Not because he was beaten. Not because he was in pain. Not because he was lying in a grimy, gutter in a bloodied mess. But because he had reduced one of the youngest, caring and strong-willed people he knew to such an atrocious, horrible act.

"Of course we di-"

But Desmond's face contorted with rage, bringing the sword up over his head.

"SHUT UP!!!!"

And with a furious yell, he brought the blade down, the cold metal striking through Superman's chest without resistance.

The Man of Steel let out a loud gasp as a puddle of blood escaped his mouth and flooded his chin. He made a small, weak gasping sound, followed by a wheezing death rattle. After he turned his eyes to meet Desmond's, he fell silent.

His eyes darkened as blood began to pour from within the symbol on his chest, the beautiful symbol that meant hope to so many people. But to Desmond, it was a symbol of a person who mistreated and failed him, only to plead otherwise in the end.

Rain began to pour as Desmond's legs gave out from beneath him.

He felt nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing...

...Until his phone rang.

Whatever 'something' left inside him reached slowly into his suit, dragging out a small flip-phone with a glowing screen that was plastered with a single word:

'Savage'.

"It is done," Desmond said into the phone. "Superman is no more."

There was an amused, but icy cold chuckle from the other end.

"And with that," the voice said. "The Justice League has finally fallen...I am so proud of you, my boy!"

"Proud?" Desmond asked with apathy.

"You have accomplished in only a few weeks, what I have tried for years. You have destroyed the ENTIRE Justice League!"

There was a slow round of applause.

"Truly remarkable!"

Desmond understood the praise, a truly heartfelt moment of pride for another person from someone who never compliments anyone at all. But he didn't feel like he had accomplished something great, he felt more like he had killed the last of an endangered race.

"That's my side of the bargain," Desmond told him. "You and I go our sperate ways now-"

"Not so fast, my boy." the voice interrupted. "There is still a loose end to tie. Enemies with the potential to oppose us..."

Desmond clenched his hand into a fist. "The sidekicks..."

"Precisely. I trust you can handle it?"

"Yes."

Again, the cold chuckle. "Very good. I'll be sure to meet you there..."

Then, the phone went silent.

Desmond put his phone away and stood up, stealing one last glance towards Superman's body before he leapt into the air with a yell. Within seconds, he had passed Metropolis' outer limits and was making headway to Mount Justice, where his former comrades awaited him.

"Get ready guys..." he murmured as the cold winds whipped at his face. "I'm coming home!"


	2. Interview With The Superman

SEVEN MONTHS EARLIER

HAPPY HARBOUR - MAY 25th (3:52 PM)

"Are we rolling?"

"Yeah, Iris!"

"This is Iris West-Allen with GBS, reporting to you live from Happy Harbour, Rhode Island with breaking news! The supervillain known as Parasite, along with a small band of unidentified thugs, have just attacked the local mall!! The situation has been resolved by the members of the Justice League's protégé s and the mall has been locked down by the local police, but the carnage wrought by these criminals has been great enough to shake the community."

"This report comes in tandem with a developing story of a mass breakout from several super villain prisons, namely the institution at Belle Reve. The White House and the Justice League have been besieged with reports of other supervillain attacks besides the one that just took place here!"

"Wait! Hold on! I've just heard that three proteges, along with Superman, are now exiting the mall with what appears to be someone on a stretcher!"

"Holy crap Iris!! It's a kid!

"Oh my god, you're right!! It's hard to see from this distance, but it appears that the person on the stretched is only very young, around high school age! He appears to be in a great deal of pain and with a huge scar on his chest...What kind of monster would so such a thing to a child?! 

"C'mon Alex! Let's see if we can ask Superman for a comment on the situation!"

"Superman! Superman! Can you give any report on the situation?!"

"Have the criminals who aided Parasite been identified?!"

"No."

"Can you give ANY kind of statement to the public? About this incident or the mass breakouts from the supervillain prisons?!"

"The members of the Justice League and I, along with the brave men and women of the Happy Harbour emergency services have been successful in evacuating all of the Mall's personnel and detaining Parasite and his thugs. As for the mass breakouts from Belle Reve and other supervillain institutions, I would like to ask the public to stay calm and know that the White House and the Justice League are working tirelessly to apprehend these criminals and to find countermeasures against any further attacks."

"And what of this victim? Have you found the assailant responsible for the attack on this young man?"

"This young man was brave. He attacked the thugs whilst our protegees being detained by Parasite, which resulted in the scar you see. I'm ashamed to admit that Parasite attacked the boy before I could stop him."

"Thank you Superman for you-"

"Hey Iris! What's that muddy stuff on the kid's scar..?"

"ALEX!! Get back!!

"AAARRRRRRGGGGGHHH!!!!"

"ALEX!!"

"What the hell was that?!! Did that kid just shoot beams out of his eyes?!"

"But Superman! I thought only you could do that! Is there something you're not telling us?"

"Superman! His skin is heating up!!"

"Quiet Superboy! Please, Mrs Allen, remain calm. Miss Martian! Get Batman, NOW!!"

"Yes!"

"Officer! Clear the media from the area!"

"Sure thing, Superman. You heard the man! Clear the area people!!"

"Desmond!! Stay with me!!"

"Robin! Get away from him! Let me handle it!"

**Author's Note:**

> The Justice League destroyed?! Superman brutally murdered?! The destroyer of the League is none other than a former member of the Team?!
> 
> How could it have led to this?! Find out when Chapter One takes you back seven months in the past, when Desmond and the Young Justice first crossed paths!
> 
> Be sure to vote if you enjoyed the chapter and PLEASE leave some feedback! :D


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